Back to the basics. Our team will help you get started stamping. Learn basic measurements, how to cut your card stock, techniques, and enjoy a weekly sketch challenge, and more! Please note: You have entered a MARKETING FREE ZONE.
Please note, we reserve the right to remove links with non-Stampin' Up! product, "sales pitches", links to online stores, or requests to join your team. We're here to have fun, learn from one another and share.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Good Morning Stampers! On behalf of the Stamping 411 operators, I'm proud to bring you another episode of Sketch Challenge Saturday! There are certainly some GORGEOUS creations from our team this morning with this fun sketch!

I should also tell you that convention is coming in two weeks, and that week, I think ALL of us will be in Salt Lake City taking in the newest products and techniques at the stampin up yearly convention. Please be patient if the post is late that week :)

So ~ Let's get down to measurements! Here is one interpretation of how the measurements could work for this card.

Layer 1: Start by taking a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock, score it down the middle at 4 1/4". Then turn your paper and cut at 5 1/2"Note: by scoring first, you yield two card bases that are scored. If you're doing a lot of cards this saves you some work by getting half of the scoring out of the way.Layer 2: Cut your second layer 5 1/4" x 4 and layer it on top of your "base" layerLayer 3: Try using DSP (designer series paper) for this layer. If you start with a 12 x 12, and cut at 5 1/4" then you can cut at one inch intervals. One piece of 12 x 12 would yield about 26 (1" x 5 1/4") pieces. This is a great value!

For your focal point, the size of layers 4 and 5 will depend on your stamp size. Again, try measuring your block of wood for your top layer, then make a matte for it that's a 1/4" bigger on two sides (to make an 1/8"th of an inch border) For example if your wood measures 3" x 2 3/4". that would be your #5 layer, and then, your 4th layer would be 3 1/4" x 3". I hope that makes sense! :) Here's what our operators are up to this morning.

Friday, July 17, 2009

It's Saturday AM, and that means another FANTABULOUS sketch from your stamping 411 operators! This week, we've gone ULTRA simple. You should be able to make quick creations with this layout and come back to it over and over again.

Many of our operators have taken liberties with this sketch. However, one possible set of measurements could be:

Layer 1: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" folded in halfLayer 2: 4" x 5 1/4"

For the element(s) on layer 2, if you're afraid to stamp because you might not come out straight, you could try using a stamp a majig, or apply the three images with glue dots or dimensionals, after using a punch to punch them out! Either way, we hope you have fun with this one... Here's what the operators did.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

As our blog becomes a bit more popular, it's becoming more difficult to choose just 5 entries. We have looked at every single entry, and they are all gorgeous! Thanks for continuing to play along and by all means, let us know if we can do anything for you! Here's your operator picks for this week.

Just click on the images to be transported to our showcase blogs this week.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Notice something new? We added a chat box in the upper right hand side of this page, so that if you have questions for any particular operator, or you just want to chat you can use the chat box up top to let us know what's on your mind. As time moves forward, we may offer a virtual crop/card night, but for now we're just trying it out.

This weeks sketch is a beauty. It seems very simple, but some of the measurements can be a little tricky for this one. I will first suggest that you check out this past post on how to read a ruler, for guidance.

Although i'm going to give you exact measurements for each of the layers. I think it's important to bring up, that, in this sketch, layer 3 is 1/8" smaller on two sides (so a 1/16" border) all the way around. In past weeks we have only dealt in quarter inch intervals, so we're stepping it up a bit! This challenge is still super simple.

So here's the measurements:

Layer 1 = take a piece of paper and cut it in half (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") then score that in half or fold it with your bone folder at 4 1/4"

Layer 3. Cut at 4 7/8" x 3 5/8" (tricky tricky! ~ not so ~ Just cut 1/8" smaller on your paper cutter. If you get confused with this step refer to Lee's post on reading a ruler. We all got confused in the beginning, so don't feel like you're alone!

finally, embellish to taste. Change it up, use different shapes and accessories! Lets see what you've got!